The Strange World of Gurney Slade [DVD]

In 1960 I was 9 and yet I’ve got a strange recollection of watching this, apparently it didn’t do well in the ratings war between ITV and BBC and was hurriedly put on very late when I would have been in bed.. Apparently it was shown again in 1963 so perhaps that’s when I may have watched it.My dear old mum and dad would have been totally confused by it as were a lot of people at the time but I think I was quite intrigued by it. I saw this advertised on Amazon and knew I had to get it.I bought the blu ray version and the video quality is superb. Perhaps it’s just my imagination but I think I can detect influences in later “offbeat” comedies, certainly Monty Python and even Father Ted and Blackadder. David Bowie was a fan of this series and his early singing style was influenced by him.Anthony Newley is now pretty much forgotten which is a shame they should put this series back on television and see what is made of it now.I think it’s great although I’m still not sure too many members of my family would quite take to it even after all these years.I’ve seen all six episodes and there are another couple of discs (on the blu ray Ray version anyway) still to watch.

Back in 1960, when the unknown David Bowie (nee Jones) was being awakened by Anthony Newley's seminal 'Strange World of Gurney Slade', another impressionable teenager was also glued to the same show on the family's Radio Rentals 16" Ferranti. It was me of course, and for both of us, this was the pistol shot that fired a new era of comedy out of the starting blocks. Like David Bowie, I never forgot the incredible surreal show that was Gurney Slade, and together with countless other devotees, the memory of it has been following us around for over fifty years. Apart from a 1963 re-run, only the first episode ever resurfaced in the new world - and that was too awful to watch in its various lo-res incarnations.Now Network has delivered the TV Heaven package of all time in a fabulously restored six episode Gurney Slade DVD with extraordinary extras. Absolute full marks to Network for sourcing the original 35mm master, which literally glows with cameraman Donald Long's exquisite black & white photography. As an original captive of the show, I'm delighted to see new and future generations at last having access to Anthony Newley's magical masterclass. In particular, it'll be interesting for comedy historians to see how it influenced Tony Hancock's early 1960's `everyman' persona, as in for example 'The Blood Donor', and subsequently the Python era.Those who have followed Newley's work will rightly consider him a posthumous national treasure, and his performance as Gurney Slade is as faultless as all his other brilliant performances from child star beginnings to Las Vegas headliner. Just prior to Gurney, Newley jump started his adulthood as a chart topping pop star with songs like `Why' and `Do You Mind'. These great tracks were gracing the nation's Dansette record players at the beginning of Newley's incredible career, and set him up as the next big thing that just never went away. His colossal body of work has rarely been equaled by a single British performer, and his legend is right up there with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Noel Coward.Watching Newley perform is like watching a ballet - every movement perfectly fluid and unselfconscious, and his dialogue appears to be picked fresh out of the air. Second only to Gurney Slade is Newley's Oscar deserving role in the movie 'The Small World of Sammy Lee', and for aficionados the newly released DVD of this unsung masterpiece should clearly be on their shopping list ('The London Box Set' - Optimum Home Releasing). For the moment though, if you ain't seen 'The Strange World of Gurney Slade' - click the Amazon `Buy Now' button, and prepare to enjoy your socks off!Thanks again to Network for this incredible release, and a plea to bring us more of the same from this era. How about properly rescuing Merton Park Studios' 'Scotland Yard' / 'Scales of Justice' / 'Edgar Wallace' shorts? There's a salivating fan base out here eager for a proper restoration of these UK classics! Just asking.**UPDATE!**Blimey! Network listens! No sooner said than done, the three classic British B movie series from Merton Park Studios as detailed above, are in their new release line up. Forget the gas bill, these absolutely have to be on one's Amazon shopping list! Next up for Network? How about The 1957 BBC children's series 'The Silver Sword'? All seven episodes are currently languishing in the BFI vaults, being the only full children's TV series of the period to have survived.**BLU-RAY RELEASE UPDATE**Following Network’s DVD release of ‘Gurney Slade’ , comes this incredible three disc Blu-ray chaser in astonishing HD quality. Wow extras include three Saturday Spectacular shows starry Anthony Newley, and wait for it - a special edition Blu-ray of the BFI’s fabulous restoration of ‘The Small World of Sammy Lee’ - already out there, but a delight to have it as part of this package!Additionally, Network has included very extensive new writing on ‘Gurney Slade’ in the form of a beautifully produced small book, an absolute must-have for Newley aficionados. A full five stars for content that simply cannot be bettered! That said, Network’s flimsy cardboard packaging is a great try with brilliantly inventive artwork, but too physically over engineered for its own good.Notwithstanding Amazon’s robust packaging, this delivery was no match for the usual transit traumas. My copy reached me in a somewhat squashed condition, though thankfully the discs survived intact. This release is a unique collector’s event, special enough to warrant being presented in a high quality three disc Amaray case. Otherwise, thank you Network, for bringing us the Blu-ray release of the year!Roger Hopkins

I was reticent about buying this, fifty two years after I first viewed it as a 13 year old schoolboy.Would it have aged badly, like me?Would it be amusing?Well, first of all the quality is excellent, black and white, but sharp, almost as if it had been shot yesterday.A question........... Why, when I'm watching Gurney Slade, do I keep thinking of 'The Prisoner', which appeared 8 years later?Maybe it's the oddness of the two series, maybe the idea of one man against the system?Strange world is just that, strange! innanimate objects talk back to our man, brilliantly played by Tony Newley,He seems to be looking for a different view of life.It really is difficult to call the programmes funny, although written by 'Sid & Dick' later to scribe for Morecambe & Wise, it simply isn't rib tickling!But, it is 'of it's time', or is it?There, you see I'm having great difficulty even 'reviewing' this DVD.If like me you are curious, and in your mid sixties, go with Gurney Slade into his strange world of 1960,witness the vacuum cleaner dance, with the young, pretty Una Stubbs, but stick with it.Gurney Slade is a bit like a cold shower.It will probably do you good, but may be a little hard at the time. Strange...........